Dirty Laundry
by ObscureAuthor
Summary: <html><head></head>Law is a medical school student who finds himself in a laundromat where he meets an unlikely friend who changes his life. City AU with eventual LawLu.</html>
1. Chapter 1

Oh God. This is my second story here on this website and I hope that you guys like it. They're be eventual Law x Luffy with Law x Bonney along the way. I haven't decided any other parings for this story so far, but you can send in suggestions as the story goes on. Things like watching old shows and gum kept me awake to type this out by my personal deadline. I hope you like it. Please read and review!

By the way, I own nothing so don't sue me.

* * *

><p>Chapter One:<p>

He reached his dreaded destination in a matter of minutes. With a laundry basket under one arm and his headphones on his head, Law entered the apartment complex's laundry room.

Like always, the place was half-deserted and morose. A television played a Sunday morning news program while a few senior citizens were grouped around the plastic waiting chairs. Younger adults –like him– stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do as they waited for their clothes to finish washing or drying. Two small children –they were twins– slept on top of a table.

Trafalgar Law was usually a patient person, but he hated going to the laundromat. Not only did the they charge a ridiculous amount of change, but the bathrooms were highly unsanitary. The place ironically smelled like unwashed clothing and there was too many neon flyers for things he didn't care about. However, it was the waiting part that made him never want to wash a single item of clothing ever again.

_My professors would want me killed if they heard that_, he mused to himself. Law was currently attending one of the best medical schools in the country, which just happened to be far away from his family. He realized that he didn't want the life his family was giving him and wanted to do his own thing. Which was why he decided to try to get an impressive job. _They'd stab me with a scalpel._

One of the women turned around to give him a disapproving glare.

"Young man," she began witheringly. "_Please _turn down your _bothersome _music!"

She meant the Sonic Youth he had been listening to. _Shit. _Her Top 40-tuned ears couldn't take anything more severe than the chorus of a boy band song.

"Sorry ma'am," Law apologized. "I didn't know my music was so loud."

"The point of those things is to make music quieter," she said. She pointed to the sleeping kids. "Can't you see that my kids are trying to take a nap?"

"I"m sorry," he started to frown. She didn't have to be so rude about it.

"You should be! Make that you leave before my kids wake up. You look like a mess."

It was practically eight in the morning on Sunday. He had done his regular morning routine and was now settled in a black V-neck and his favorite spotted jeans. Maybe it was his tattoos? His piercings? Then it hit him: He looked like a drug addicted insomniac.

_I'm not even on drugs_, he snorted. _At least, not at the moment._

Much to her surprise, he smirked deliciously and walked on.

He chose a good spot to load his laundry in. Law was so used to doing laundry every Sunday that he didn't even have to look at the instructions written on the washer. Everything was drilled inside his head, like all the medical terminology that he started to memorize way back in his freshman year of high school. It cost two dollars to use the washers and dryers and supplies cost another dollar. He sighed as he fished out extra change out of his pockets. Just as he was about to press **START**, a voice rang out, "Look at it go!"

Law looked over. There was a boy squatted down across from him, in front of a washer that was already washing a tremendous load of laundry. He was gleefully watching the clothes spin around like a merry-go-round. The boy couldn't have been older than fifteen.

"It's just a bunch of clothes," Law said. _He must be really bored or really stupid. The chances are that he's both. _"What's so intriguing about that?"

"Intrigu-what?" the boy asked. He seemed genuinely baffled and naïve.

Law was sure that he was making a face. "Laundromats are boring as hell. How old are you, kid? Go watch some cartoons or something."

"I'm nineteen!" the boy's eyes– which were large to start with – widened. The teenager looked both casual and young in his wrinkled tank top and cargo shorts. He was also barefoot. "Can't you tell?"

"Not really."

"Shoot," the teenager beamed anyway. He had a nice smile, even if it made him look too friendly. "Nobody can. Oh well! What about you?"

_Why do you care? _"I'm older than you."

"I see," he tapped his chin. After appearing to be deep in thought he guessed, "Forty-two?"

When people looked at Law, the first things that came to mind were that with his mysterious gray eyes and brooding features, he was attractive. Like the actor kind of handsome that not many people had. He looked dangerous, capable of getting away with murder. Everybody assumed that he was at least twenty-two when he was really twenty-six.

"That is so far off," Law scoffed. "Not even close."

"Well, you don't look fifty!" the boy cried.

"Because I'm nowhere near being that old," Law spat. "I'm twenty-six and have been all this year."

"That means that last year, you were twenty-five, right? And next year ..." the boy trailed off. "You'll be twenty-seven! Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven ..."

He sounded no older than a child. One who had just learned how to count.

By the time the boy got to forty-two, Law decided to ignore the boy. He might have been old enough to drive, but he acted like a preschooler.

Eventually, his clothes finished washing. Law grudgingly pulled each item out and placed everything into a dryer a good distance away from the teenager. Two dollars and two minutes later, he was listening to his music again.

His plans for the day were to hit the city and see what came up. Even if that meant going to some pretentious night club and watching freaky people. Law had a high alcohol tolerance and according to his friends, had never been drunk before. He hoped to keep it that way.

Suddenly, a ruckus was coming from the vending machine area.

"Ooo! They have TWINKIES."

It was him again. Law rolled his eyes for he could hear the boy over the bass and hated it. He closed his eyes and bit down on his bottom lip. He tried to focus on the music and nothing else but the music as he visualized his ideal life. As a successful surgeon ... and despite how annoying the boy was, he would have little impact on Law's life. Getting worked up over a snot like him would ruin his chances of becoming a surgeon.

_There is still seven minutes left for my clothes to finish drying. Seven minutes left in this fucking laundromat and with this freak._

"Hey dude, do you have an extra quarter you don't need? Twinkies cost seventy-five cents, but I'm twenty-five short."

Something in Law made him say, "Yeah. Here you go." He gave him a quarter.

"Wow! Thanks!" the boy's eyes twinkled. At that exact moment, Law decided that the boy was cute. "I'll be right back!"

_I bet you will. _He observed the teenager with new eyes. Like most people, he was of average height and was quite thin. He walked around with aimless energy that gave Law a minor headache. How could he get around like that? And if he wasn't mistaken, the boy ate like a garbage disposal.

The teenager came back with a package of Twinkies. He greedily ripped open the plastic and picked out one of the artery-clogging pastries. "This is great. Do you eat junk food?" he asked Law with his mouth full.

"Rarely, but that's because junk food is unhealthy," Law paused. What he said next had nothing to do with anything whatsoever, but he felt like telling the boy anyway. "I live by myself."

"That must be awesome! I still live at home, with my grandpa," the boy swallowed. "On the third floor."

"Really now?" Law cocked one of his eyebrows upwards. _I've never seen you before. _"So ... do you come here very often?"

"Only when my grandpa lets me come here. I still have to follow the house rules. He says I really shouldn't go around talking to strangers and stuff," then the boy seemed to realize that he _was_ talking to a stranger. "Oh. Oops!"

He started to look at Law like he was thinking about all the things that strangers could do to unsuspecting people.

"I'm not anymore. My name is Trafalgar Law. I go by as just 'Law'," he had to do some quick talking. "I also live in this building."

The boy nodded. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. You are a good person, right?"

Was Law a good person?

Law chuckled. "Sure. Why not?"

"Oh goody! I could tell that you weren't some kind of wacko creeper or something. We should be friends!" Luffy suggested.

"I dunno," now he shrugged. He wasn't really sure what he really thought of Luffy or anything that they had in common. People like Luffy just didn't belong with people like him. For starters, he was too mature to be hanging around Luffy. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Luffy's smile dimmed down a notch. This still did not stop him from saying, "Do you want my other Twinkie?"

Law eyed the sugary pastry. "No thanks, I'll pass."

"My other friends would've probably had a heart attack by now," Luffy giggled. "I rarely ever share my food! But that's 'cause food is so delicious!"

Law, who didn't have a large appetite, said, "You should be careful. Your metabolism may be really high right now, but later on it'll slow down."

"And that means ..."

"You'll get fat," Law clarified rather bluntly.

"I don't think so. Even if that were to happen, it'd be in the future. Right now, I don't really care!"

Law tried to smile. _I wonder what it'd be like to be as carefree as him. I probably wouldn't even be thinking about things like retirement or getting married or something._

"How often to you go partying?" Law changed the topic.

"Well, most of my friends live for the scene. They're night owls who don't really have any good reason to be out at crazy hours, but they want to have fun. I guess you could say I live for the scene as well, but I've never gone clubbing before. My grandpa would slaughter me if I came home drunk or something from a club. I do go to parties, though."

"Hm," Law thought of asking Luffy whether he was single. Then he decided that it would probably drive Luffy away. He had no idea what Luffy's sexuality was and realized that he urgently cared. "You should convince him to let you go clubbing. A few of the clubs here in the city aren't that bad."

"I've tried, but every time I ask he refuses. It's kind of wrong. I mean, he owns some alcohol. All these wines that I can't pronounce," Luffy admitted. "I also don't want to run into any of those wacko creepers."

Creepers are really everywhere. A creeper question would be asking the other person whether you were a creeper or not. That would have set Luffy off. Which was why Law didn't say that.

The dryer came to a hault. Law almost groaned out loud.

"Those are your clothes," Luffy told Law.

"Yeah."

"They're done drying."

"Uh huh," Law looked away. He wasn't really sure what to say next. There was nothing else to say but, "I come here every Sunday."

He had meant to say a quick good-bye. Only he wasn't quite ready to do that yet.

"I'll be here next week," Luffy blurted. Then his face gained color. "To, um, talk. I'm sure my grandpa would let me."

"Same," Law smirked as he unloaded the dryer. "To wash my clothes. And talk. Actually, I think we should do _more_ than _that_."

His voice was even dirtier than a high schooler's browser history. Law hadn't meant for it to sound perverted, but Luffy took it that way.

Now Luffy was really blushing. "I, um, I'm not even sure about that!"

Law laughed. "What about Tuesday?"

"Tuesday?! Why Tuesday?"

"Tuesday seems like such a wonderful day to go get some coffee," Law explained. "I just love coffee. Do you? We should get some coffee during lunch hour on Tuesday."

"Oh," Luffy was sweating like mad. Law knew how to make people squirm. "Yeah! That's just in-between my classes at the local college."

"Swell. Remember the date," Law began to fold his clothes. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too!"

"Totally," Law faked some of his enthusiasm. _I just made it sound like Luffy and I are going on an actual date. The night-time kind of date in the romantic restaurant kind of date._

He shuddered. When it came to things like relationships, Law couldn't brag about long-term relationships. Usually he cut off all relations with the person he broke up with –he had never been dumped in his entire life and he was the one who always ended each relationship.

He considered the fact that almost every one of his relationships had been based off of lust for the other person. A nice personality was one thing he liked, but having a hot body was just as good. He couldn't name one of the people he had ever dated and not had sex with.

There was some silence between the two of them and Law wondered what the other man was thinking about. The twins that had been sleeping earlier had woken up. One of them was curiously fawning over Law's tattoos. He ignored the child. Children didn't interest Law and he knew that their mom would be nagging at him.

Time is always a bitch so Law found himself staring at the piles of neatly folded laundry in his laundry basket. Luffy fidgeted. Law looked over at him.

"I'll pay you back," Luffy said bashfully. "Maybe once I get paid next week. My work schedule is all weird, which is why I work weird hours. Like who needs to buy a pack of cigarettes at one in the morning? The place never closes."

Law could name about four or five people he knew that had probably bought cigarettes at one in the morning. "S'okay. You don't have to do that."

_Poor guy. He has to work the night shift. _Law felt guilty for being adopted by such a wealthy family who constantly sent him money from back East. He had never even had to get a job to get the money to go to school both times he attended a college.

"No, I will," Luffy urged. There was crinkles in the corners of his eyes, he was smiling so hard. "You're my friend! And friends take care of each other!"

Law broke the warm-feelings spell my saying, "I have to get going now. I guess this is a good-bye. At least, for now."

_That has to be and will always be the stupidest thing I have ever said to anybody._

"Okay," Luffy said slowly. He nodded again. "That's alright with me."

"We're still on for Tuesday, right?"

"Of course!"

His basket was under his arm again. He felt more self-conscious than he ever had in his whole life and wished that he was more charismatic. That he right words would come to his head so he could dazzle Luffy and win him right over.

"Bye."

"Bye Law! I'll pay you back as soon as I pay back all the money I owe this one taxi driver. Man, that guy hates me. Bye!"

All Law could do was flash Luffy one of his grins and wave.

Once he was a safe distance away all he wanted to do was shrivel up and die. He remembered that he had forgotten to tell Luffy what coffee shop they were to meet at.

_Why do I have to be such an asshole?_

When he passed some glass, Law stopped in his tracks to look at himself. He didn't look like the monster that was inside of him, but somehow he felt strange.

* * *

><p>About fifteen hours later Law found himself surrounded by semi-intellectuals who were high on more things than drugs. Actually, they were high on life.<p>

He scrunched his nose as this too-loud dubstep song began blaring out of the speakers. _Who made the playlist? One does not simply play Skrillex after Two Door Cinema Club. _To drown out his musical woes, Law took another long drag of his bummed cigarette.

Barely anybody was even dancing in the night club. The brave souls that ventured out on the dance floor must've never watched MTV before, because even Law didn't know who taught them how to dance. He had no idea how to describe the moccasin-clad girl who was flapping her arms while being in some sort of trance, her head bopping everywhere.

She wasn't as bad as the dude with the bleached hair and industrial piercings. He was being swarmed by three airheads who were hanging onto his every word. He was the bassist of the band that had performed earlier that night and pretended as if his indie group was all that and a bag of chips. Too bad he didn't realize that the only reason his band was still indie was because all of the major labels thought his music sucked.

And the girl that had decided to sit next to Law? She was another story.

There was no way that her hair was naturally pink. Who was even born with pink hair anyway? And how did she not feel uncomfortable in her backless tank top? The biggest question was how she didn't weigh as much as whale when she was eating an entire pizza by herself.

"Look at 'em. They think they're _so _deck by not really dancing at these things. Who does that?" she snorted.

Law was silent. He was concentrating on the stripes on the deejay's shirt.

"Hey –! I'm talking to you!"

"Oh. Sorry," he shrugged. "Honestly, I thought tonight would actually be fun. Now, I think it's crap. There's all these hipster types here."

She guffawed good-naturedly. She had such an aggravating laugh to match her high-pitched voice. "You dig clubs?"

"Only this one," Law was tempted to ask her if she wanted a beer. "Do you drink?"

"Soda."

"I meant–"

"Beer tastes like urine. Not that I've ever tasted urine. The people that drink it smell like it and so does their sweat. They stink as much as the people who always smoke."

Law was taught that smoking was harmful to your body and how it could ruin your lungs, et cetra, et cetra. There was times when he just really needed a smoke.

"I'm studying to be a surgeon, though I did have to go back to school for that."

_Ironically__._

Another laugh. She looked even prettier when she smiled. "You're deck. My name is Jewelry Bonney. My dream is to be a food critic."

The soon-to-be surgeon and food critic hit it off just like that. Soon enough, they were talking about random topics like politics (they were both pretty liberal), where to get the best clothes ("Everywhere but Abercrombie!"), and even sexuality.

"I'm straight," Bonney told him. "I've had a few boyfriends before."

"I'm–" Law stopped himself. He couldn't believe he was about to lie about something serious like that. "I'm actually bisexual."

He knew that some people had things against bisexual people. So what? Bonney could think whatever she wanted to.

"That's hot," she said. "Bisexual guys are sexy as fuck. It's the lesbians that just creep me out, though."

"Really? Wow. That really makes no sense. It's just something you're born with, but don't realize it until one day, you just ... do. You can't just look at somebody like they're suffering from a terminal disease just because of the person they love. And I thought you were a liberal!"

She considered this. "True."

Law smiled –it was a real smile. "That's hot."

* * *

><p>Two hours, twenty-two drinks (Law had to do a lot of convincing to get Bonney to drink), and several conversations later Law knew that him and Bonney were starting to get drunk.<p>

Her phone number was written on him arm in Sharpie. He felt good, even though that he knew that he probably looked terrible. Law had given up on leaving early and was proud of his choice to stay.

"... and then I said how he was going to get FAT from eating all that damn junk food," Law's speech was slurred. "He was such a queer, I just wanted to fuck him then and there. But no ... rules say you can't do that in public!"

"Rules don't outlaw the other kinds of sex!" Bonney howled. Her appearance looked messier, but he liked her that way. "Oh m'God. If those kids I used to go to school with saw me now, they'd send me to one of those rubber rooms where they stick the psychos in. Law, we have to be put away in one of those. I think that's going to be our final destination!"

Law raised his glass, which he clinked with hers with good cheer.

"Whatever, man. Society expects too much out of us. First, they tell us to act like adults. Then they get mad when we act mature. How are we supposed to act?" Bonney went on. "I wonder how babies feel about shit like that."

"Aw, screw the kids. Who has time for that anyway? I never, _ever _want to have kids."

"Who was time for that stuff?"

"Some loser."

"Horny people."

He eyed her. Drunk or not, he could tell when a person was blushing. He smirked while her mouth opened. She was too slow, he beat her into saying, "You are so horny right now, it's not even funny anymore."

"Huh? ME? I'm the horny one? _Tsk. _You are the definition of horny," Bonney claimed.

"I am not –"

He never finished that sentence. Bonney held him closer by pulling him by his shirt to kiss him. When their lips touched, a warm feeling settled in his stomach. Her lips felt so soft compared to his own and he wanted to be like that forever. She smelled nothing like pizza and though her mouth tasted like beer, there was some kind of sweetness behind the alcohol. Everything about Bonney was almost better than every fantasy Law had ever had.

Law felt like she was driving the kiss – which was not alright with him. He forced his tongue through her teeth so that their tongues met and danced like the manic pixie dream girls on the dance floor. Law closed his eyes in pure bliss. His head could've been filling up with oatmeal and he still wouldn't have cared.

His lips continued to linger on hers and the two must've stayed like that for almost an entire minute.

"Law," she panted through the kiss. "You are so edible."

_Edible. _That was a new compliment.

When they separated, a trail of saliva connected their grinning faces.

"I think we should bail," Law suggested. "Is my place alright with you?"

"Anyplace, as long as I'm with you."

"Come on," he let his cigarette slip out of his hands so he could take her hands into his own. "Let's go somewhere."

_So what? I just spent $30 on cigarettes and drinks, but I still have her._

Life was good. Until it hit him: How would him and Bonney get to his apartment, which was fifteen blocks away from his apartment and Law didn't have enough money for a taxi? To make matters worse, the two of them were boozed.

Maybe it was the beer, but he suddenly had a headache.

"We'll walk. If we see any cops, we can pretend like we're married or something. Too bad we don't have any rings. Ha!" Bonney yelled.

At least the October night was mild. Since the city they lived in had sky-scrappers and light pollution, he couldn't see any stars but her.

Navigating the streets was easier than he thought they would be when he wasn't sober. There was signs and lights everywhere, a sense of intelligence that only large cities had. Everything was under control.

Familiar buildings soon came into sight. The grocery store where Law always bought his groceries at. An anime shop where all the otakus worshiped Uzumaki Naruto. The coffee shop Law had forgotten to tell Luffy about.

He could see a large clock on the side of major bank. The clock claimed it was past midnight. Which meant that his first class started in less than ten hours, he was going to go home with a drunk girl, and that he was drunk himself.

To make matters worse, Bonney just had to ask for five dollars to buy a pack of cigarettes.

"_Please_, Law? I'm just dying for a cigarette!" she exclaimed.

Law ran a hand through his own hair. He gave Bonney his last five dollar bill, which she happily snatched from his hands with a peck on his left cheek.

"I'll go with you. Only freaky people are out and about right now."

The two of them stepped into the next convenience store they came across. The Sunday/Monday had chains across the country and bragged about always being open. They even had them back East.

_Ow. _Florescent lights made Law wince. He shielded his hands over his eyes and gave his face a good rub. _The things I do to get laid these days._

Bonney was pointing at the brand of cigarettes she wanted.

"Ma'am, could you please tell me which brand you'd like?" a sickeningly familiar voice made Law come to his senses.

It was Luffy. Luffy worked at the Sunday/Monday.

"The kind with the stupid camel on them," Bonney replied vaguely.

"There is several kinds from that brand."

Law started to look for a place to hide. _Luffy cannot see me like this, Luffy cannot see me with some girl I literally picked up from a night club. Being drunk complicates life._

"The ones that you light up to smoke," Bonney laughed hysterically. "They cost less than five dollars! My boyfriend gave me the money. I'll tell you, he's really hot."

Law couldn't see Luffy's expression.

"Um, okay? I guess I'll just give you the original kind."

"Is that more than five dollars?!"

"No, it's–"

"Hey, Law, come and give me some more cash! This kid doesn't get the fact that I want some cheap cigarettes!"

_You whore!_

"Law?" Luffy's surprised voice echoed throughout the store. "Law, where are you? Do you know this lady?"

By that time, Law was hiding behind a display. Since it was a cowardly thing to do, he shamefully stood up and faced Luffy. "Yeah. I do."

"You two look ... do I smell beer?"

"That would be the stuff we drank," Bonney spoke up. "I told him drinking was bad. Some people sweat beer. Bitches have charisma and that's what always gets me. Now are you going to give me my ghetto cancer sticks or not?"

The look Law gave Luffy was an _oh-my-gosh-what-kind-of-mess-have-I-gotten-myself-into? _kind of look.

Luffy gingerly took the money as he rang up Bonney's purchase. When he did so Law saw that Luffy looked sullen and disappointed.

_He must really think that Bonney and I are going out! We are so NOT a couple. I know Luffy probably thinks I'm some kind of pimp right now._

Bonney barely noticed. She began giggling before she let out the longest burp Law had ever heard.

"Is she okay?" Luffy's eyebrows narrowed. "How drunk are you two?"

"I spent every dollar I had tonight," Law confessed.

"_Dang_."

What Luffy did next would be something that Law wished he was sober enough to remember for the rest of his life.

Luffy didn't reach for the telephone and call the cops. He didn't start yelling or kick them out of the store. No. He fished around the front counter until he found a key.

"We have a storage room in the back where you two can stay until my shift is over. I'm sorry, but I'd hate it if you two got arrested or even worse. But hold on," he craned his head around as if looking for somebody. "Hey, Usopp! Where are you?"

A boy about Luffy's height and age emerged from behind an aisle. "What's up? Wait – WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?!"

"They're some of my friends! Or at least, one of them is my friend and the girl is a friend of that friend. They need a place to hang out for awhile so I thought it would be great if they could do that in our storage room. Don't worry –they're good people. Could you please take over for a few minutes?"

"Sure. Maybe then I'll get a raise," Usopp snorted. Even Law laughed at that. "You hear that, Buggy? Give me and Luffy a raise!"

"Luffy, you don't have to do this," Law kept his voice low. He didn't want to cause any problems for Luffy and Usopp, especially over one of his bad choices. Trafalgar Law didn't need to depend on other people. "My apartment isn't so far away from here."

"Remember what I said earlier?" Luffy grinned. "'Friends take care of each other!' I'm really serious about that."

"I don't even know what to say!" Bonney hooted. "Really, I really don't."

"Man ... thank you," Law smiled slowly. "I owe you, big time."

"It's nothing. Besides, my manager is such a lazy clown and he always sleeps. He's such a slob. Buggy won't give us a hard time," Luffy rolled his eyes.

Bonney and Law followed Luffy past the aisles and behind the freezers. Law was aware of the fact that he kept stumbling everywhere and had probably been walking like that for quite some time. Or maybe Earth's gravity had changed. Maybe it was Bonney who was tripping up on him.

Luffy opened a door to a dusty room that was about the size of Law's apartment. Boxes and cartons were strewn everywhere – some open, some closed. Some new, some old. There was also things like seasonal decorations and cleaning supplies. He flicked the light on and a weak light bulb provided enough lighting for Law to see the cobwebs near the ceiling.

At that exact moment, he would have given anything to be a spider. High and away from the world, truly a dreamer.

"We have some chairs somewhere in here. I'll get us some water bottles, too! My manager won't even notice. If you two want, you can turn on the fan ... I don't care, as long as you guys are comfortable."

Bonney leaned over to Law. "Either that guy is out of his mind or he's some kind of saint."

"I met him yesterday," Law blinked hard. "I'm pretty sure it was yesterday ... I think."

Luffy soon came back with what he had promised. Bonney turned on the fan.

"So," Bonney said.

"So," Luffy repeated.

Law cleared his throat. "So what time is it?"

Luffy pulled out his phone and unlocked it. "One fifty-two in the morning and I have three new Kik messages, nine new emails, and one missed phone call. Shucks. My shift ends at four. Why?"

He sighed. "My first class starts in almost seven hours. I'm either going to have to be late or go to school with a bad hangover or not go at all. Either one of those choices would look bad."

"How important is school to you?" Luffy asked as he opened his water bottle.

"It's practically my life. It symbolizes freedom for me and is my future."

"Do you get good grades?"

"Not to brag or anything, but my grades are some of the best in the class."

"Would skipping hurt you?"

_He cannot be suggesting that I skip something as important as school. _"I don't know because I've never skipped before," he admitted.

It got quiet.

"Somebody's screeewed!" Bonney burped to fill in for her silence.

"Or maybe not," Luffy gave her a small frown. Then his gaze returned to Law. "We could lie and say that you might be running late. In the meantime, you could at least have a few hours of sleep."

"What! There is no way–" Law protested, but was interrupted.

"It's probably really hard to be taken seriously when you have a hangover and smell like beer," Luffy folded his arms across his chest.

"He's not drunk!" Bonney commented. This contradicted with what she had said earlier. "Law can go to school and play doctor anyway!"

For the first time in his life Law seemed to have been beaten by somebody younger, less intelligent, and less experienced than himself. By a nineteen-year-old in the storage room of a convenience store in the middle of the night.

"Fine. I'll figure something out. But how is your excuse supposed to work?" Law asked.

When Luffy chuckled, Law realized that his life was about to become far more complicated than it already was.


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing. _Nada. _Hey that's me, typing things out in Spanish. Sure, it's nice to know English because 25% of the world knows how to understand English, but what about the other 75%? I might just challenge myself to translate this story without the help of Google because I want to improve writing in Spanish. It's like I can speak it and decently write it, but my spelling is awful.

Anyway, I don't own One Piece, so don't sue me.

* * *

><p>Chapter Two:<p>

"Guys, wake up already!"

The harsh morning sunlight poured in through the open blinds and all Law could do was groan.

"What the hell! Who are you?" Law shielded his eyes with his hands. Standing in front of him was a black-haired boy wearing a straw hat, a scar beneath one of his abnormally large eyes. The boy was wearing street clothes and frantically waved a brown bag back and forth.

Something was not right. Maybe it was the fact that a total stranger was in his apartment and that the clock read 9:42 AM when he should really be at school. There was a half-naked girl he didn't even know lying next to him on his own bed and the whole thing was giving him a headache.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Luffy, silly!" the boy whose name must've been Luffy smiled. "It's almost time for me to leave for school so I thought that it'd be nice if I woke you and Bonney up before I left. Gosh, isn't it pretty outside today?"

He rubbed the sides of his head. "Let me get this clear: Your name is Luffy and you claim to know me when I don't even know who you are?"

Luffy squinted. "You know, I didn't think your hangover would be this bad. I'm glad I called in for you, otherwise you would've been out of everything."

_Hangover? _He smelt alcohol on himself and was sure that even Luffy could smell it. He began to blush faintly as he said, "Well, whatever. It's going to be your fault if I fail. Could you at least explain to me how I got here with this girl? And how did you get inside of here?"

Luffy went on to explain how the two of them had met the morning of the day before and how they became friends. Law had decided to go to a night club, where he must've met the girl, whose name was Bonney. Him and Bonney got drunk and they decided to leave the night club to go home. Bonney decided to buy some cigarettes at the same store Luffy was working at and that's how he found them. He had decided to help the two of them by escorting the two of them to his apartment and calling Law's school and excusing him from school for the day.

"Do you really not remember me, Law?"

_Think, think! _Law let his thoughts wonder and when he really tried he came up with mental images of how great the girl had looked the night before and how Luffy had asked him for a quarter in the laundromat. Maybe the memories were made up, but he pretended like they were real.

"Somewhat," Law made his way out of bed and sighed. "I need to take a shower."

While Law trudged around his room Luffy followed him around merrily.

"While you two were sleeping I decided that it'd be so awesome if I got some doughnuts for us to all eat together. Since you said that you weren't a fan of sweets I decided to bring you back a bagel. Is that okay with you? It's plain so you don't have to worry about getting diabetes or something!" Luffy babbled.

He could've told Luffy that he hated bread but since Luffy had been kind enough to go out and buy food, he should be able to keep the food. Law shrugged off his offer but thanked him anyway.

"Man, I just thought of the most terrible thing. What if _Gintama: Shippuden _doesn't come out this week?" Luffy gasped. "I just LOVE Elizabeth, she's such a ... wait, what is Elizabeth? Is it a duck? A penguin? What is it ...?"

Law rummaged around until he found everything he needed. He wasn't sure whether Luffy realized that he didn't really care about most of the things he had to say and hoped that the younger man would just take a hint and leave.

He zoned out and was in some sort of daze –more like a trance– as he went in his bathroom, practically slamming the door on Luffy's face.

"Hey," Luffy went. "Are you listening to me?"

Law stared at the lock on the bathroom door which didn't work anymore. He wished that he could lock himself in the bathroom in case Luffy decided to go wild and see him naked. Then he decided that it'd be safer if he kept his clothes on for a little longer.

"Yeah. I'm listening."

"I just wanted to make sure ..."

"Mm."

"Are you mad at me or something?"

"Mad? No, I'm not mad," Law said truthfully. _Aggravated? Yes. Mad? No. _"Why do you think that?"

"Because it's just that–" Luffy stopped himself. "Whatever. It's just whatever."

He could hear Luffy's footsteps. Walking, walking away from him.

There was more than just a door between them. There was new tension as well.

Law let his body slide down to the floor and held his hands over his face. He felt a sudden urge to fly out of the bathroom and explain everything about his life and why he came out to be so sadistic, so cruel. The details that lead to his destroyed personality.

Eventually, he recollected himself and sullenly undressed. He showered quickly, letting the cold water trench his still body. All he could think about was how Luffy probably thought he was the worst person alive and how he could make things better between the two of them.

* * *

><p>Once he was done showering he felt a little better and less like a freak. So when he found Luffy and Bonney engaged in a doughnut eating contest he felt much better.<p>

In fact, he thought it was even safe enough to greet them.

"Can't talk. I'm three doughnuts behind this guy!" Bonney cried with her mouth full. "I need to write a review on the place where these suckers came from."

Law looked at her and a terrible notion surfaced: With them being drunk, half-naked, and sleeping in the same bed quite close to each other, did that mean that they could've done something other than just _sleeping?_

No. That couldn't be. To make matters worse, Law had run out of condoms weeks ago when he had used the last one during the last time him and his ex-girlfriend had decided to have some fun together.

"Really?" Law tried to keep his calm. He cleared his throat. "So Bonney, we met last night, right?"

"Oh yeah. This guy told me so!"

Luffy giggled. He seemed to have gotten over what had happened not even half an hour before. "When she saw the pack of cigarettes she knew that I hadn't made the whole thing up."

"The cheap cigarettes," Bonney mused. "The kind you smoke. Man, the things people do at one in the morning."

_Like sex._

"Uh huh," Law poured himself a cup of the coffee that had been made. The smell of his favorite brew numbed his brain, but in a good way. He took a sip of the hot drink, flavoring it's bitterly rich taste. "I wonder what I'll do today, seeing that I'm not going to go to school."

"We could eat doughnuts," Bonney suggested. "Then buy some more."

"I approve!" Luffy screeched. "Only this time, let's get the kind with jelly."

"HELL YEAH!" Bonney nodded.

"Hell yeah?" Law raised an eyebrow. "I assume you expect me to pay for said doughnuts."

"HELL YEAH!" she repeated.

He sighed. _I have like, no money left. Except for some money I was planning to use for groceries or maybe the bus. This bitch is a gold-digger or something._

"Later," he rolled his eyes, which fell on the clock in his living room. _10:18. _"Hey Luffy, when does your classes start?"

"They start at ten-thirty. Why?"

"You could be late."

"But it's only –crap, I'm going to be late!" Luffy swallowed a large hunk of doughnut and scrapped his chair back. He scooped up the remaining doughnuts, despite Bonney's squawking. He then waved to them until his arm fell off, opened the door, and ran out without even bothering to say good-bye.

He glanced at Bonney.

"I'm not a real food critic yet. I do these small reviews in the paper, but I get paid for that," she shrugged. "It's great! I get paid too much money to go around eating all this crap, but I'm not complaining!"

Law rested a fist on his chin. "Interesting. You know, we're alone right now."

Bonney looked around him at the open door. "The neighbors. They'll hear everything."

"What else happened last night?" he got down to business.

She laughed. Law frowned.

"No, seriously," he said, standing up straight. "Did we or did we not sleep together?"

Her face was blank for almost ten seconds. "I don't know."

"I'll admit this only because I don't want for this kind of thing to be dragged onto _Jerry Springer. _No, I didn't use a condom last night and am have been screened for several kinds of STD's before, but thankfully I have none."

"Oh my God," she threw her face down on the table. "What did we do?"

"I don't know," Law's face went grim because when he said that he didn't want children, he was telling the truth. "I really don't. Though we can't let that get in our way of life, you know?"

When she finally looked up, her eyes were red and she didn't look happy. "This has to be some kind of joke, right? Please tell me that this is a joke!"

"You think you're pregnant," Law guessed. "You think I'm going to be a dad. Well, let me inform you that most women don't even know that they're pregnant until they realize that they haven't had their period for awhile, have nausea or digestive abnormalities, dizziness and fatigue, mood swings, and–"

"No! I'm too young to be old!" Bonney howled like a banshee. "Look at me! I smoke! I like to party! I have a _life_. I love myself and would _so _not look forward to nine months of torture."

Then she started to cry.

"Look at me, Law. I'm an awful person. I'd be a horrible mother, I'm too irresponsible for that shit. Damnit!" she banged a fist against the table. "Goddamnit."

Law had always been advised to always leave crying people alone. If you asked them to stop they'd release whatever emotion they had hidden inside them and throw it at your face if they didn't have the urge to throw something at you. Or they'd cry even harder. The kinder ones would just give you looks.

He let her cry for a few minutes in which he avoided eye-contact with her. Every so often he would glimpse at her through the corner of his eyes to see whether she was staring at him. She wasn't. Bonney's gaze was fixed on her stomach, which she hatefully glared at.

Suddenly, she growled at him:

"Well, aren't _you_ going to _do something_ about it?!"

Which caught him off guard. What would he do about it? He hadn't thought about that.

All he could do was stare, which was apparently the wrong thing to do.

"All because I thought you were going to be some rich surgeon guy. All because I knew that one day you might have enough money to buy me KFC everyday of my life. This sucks! Don't you realize that you're probably just like the others? All you care about is your own pleasure. You just want one thing and only think and care about that one thing and that's a thing called sex, which makes innocent girls like me who just want some fucking KFC get pregnant. They go after the types that can do all this crap for them and hope that the dude loves them so much. Then not even a year later, that dude leaves their life and they never see anything relating to him ever again," she ranted.

Maybe Law was sick of hearing her whine, so he stood up from his chair.

"Stop it. You don't even know whether you're pregnant or not. So just chill down, okay?"

"Says the person who isn't going to squeeze a baby through his body."

"You want me to do something," he paused. "Yeah, I'll do something about it. We're going out."

"Where?" Bonney asked.

"The pharmacy."

* * *

><p><em>Why does there have to be all these people here? Oh gosh, there's some kids over there.<em>

Law eyed the kids –who weren't really young children and rather teenagers– as the kids started to laugh. They had to at least be in middle school and he could tell that they had just hit puberty. Why their parents were letting them roam the streets alone, he had no idea. Still, the kids were old enough to know the possible results of sexual intercourse.

Bonney paid them no attention. She was too busy gnawing at her nails, which were now shortened.

The check-out line was getting shorter. There was only one line because the pharmacy was too lazy to open another check-out line. Still, that meant that everybody had to be in the same line and that he had to be in the same line as some immature, perverted teenagers.

When it was finally their turn, Law pretended to check his phone. Coincidentally, he had a new text message from one of his friends.

**Sachi: Hey Law. Me & the dudes have just realized that ur not skewl. How come?**

Of course, his friends would notice his absence.

**Law: Shit happened.**

**Sachi: ?**

**Law: I'll tell you later. I'll be at school tomorrow, okay?**

**Sachi: Okay.**

"Who are you texting?" Bonney whispered.

"A friend," he told the truth. "He was wondering why I was gone."

Bonney snorted. "You better tell him the truth."

The person working behind the counter gave the two of them a curious glance. When he noticed that he had been caught staring, he began to blush.

"Would you like your purchase in a bag?" he bleated. "I uh, was just wondering."

Behind them, the kids snickered.

Law said, "No." at the same time Bonney said, "Yes."

"Shit's about to go down," one of the kids muttered to his friend. "I ain't playin'."

They looked at each other. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't listen to him," Bonney pretended to block Law out. "He has no idea what he's doing. Would you please put it a bag?"

"Yes ma'am," the man avoided eye-contact.

* * *

><p>"What the hell was that about?" he hissed once they were a safe distance away from the pharmacy.<p>

"I felt like saying that!" she made sure there was plenty of attitude in her voice, like she wanted him to know that she could be assertive. "I'm strong. I feel like you let me have no say in what we do. I'd like to change that!"

Now people had started to look in their direction. Concerned glances came their way and were met with the fury that radiated from the two.

The way that Bonney made that sound made it seem like they had been together for more than –wait.

_We're not even dating._

Law didn't feel like putting up with this anymore.

"Since you're tough and have made it clear that you're some kind of warrior, I'll tell you the truth and only the truth. After all, you can take the truth because you're so _strong_. The only reason I'm doing all this crap for you is because I have to!" he growled.

Bonney drew back as if she had just been slapped. Before he knew it, he was the one being striked across the face so hard that his head cocked to aside and his face was on fire. It actually burned.

"You don't have to do anything for me anymore. I don't need you. Yeah, I never have. I can be successful without you! I envy those asexual people because luckily they'll never be attracted to low-life like you."

She walked away from him, forking her way through the small crowd that had assembled around them. Bonney didn't turn back.

He pulled himself together so the people would leave him alone. Nobody called the cops on them, which was a good thing. Law couldn't risk something like what had just happened to be but on the news.

Fists in the pockets of his jacket he made his way down the street, purposely going in the opposite direction that Bonney had gone with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

He hoped that he would never see her again.

* * *

><p>Later that same day Law found himself surrounded by his closest friends outside his favorite coffee shop. They were telling him about something particularly funny that had happened on campus which included two boys running around the whole school and some Silly String, but Law could really care less.<p>

"Anyway, they got in trouble. Those idiots," Bepo rolled his eyes. The wind ruffled his white blonde hair which he immediately pushed aside. "So Law, I was wondering ... why weren't you at school today?"

He had planned this moment out very carefully because he knew that his friends would ask him. So he decided on telling them the truth in a simple manner and to get it over with, very quickly.

"Last-night-I-decided-go-to-a-night-club-where-I-met-this-bitch-named-Bonney-and-we-got-drunk. We-were-going-to-have-sex-and-crap-we-walked-home-and-she-wanted-cigarettes-at-the-store-there-was-this-person-I-know-he-helped-us-out-and-I-think-I-got-her-pregnant-but-she-ditched-me-in-a-public-manner. Yeah, that's what happened."

His friends froze. Even Jean Bart looked expressive.

"Woah," Penguin muttered.

"Yeah," Sachi agreed. "That's serious. So she just left you like that?"

"Pretty much," then Law added, "This was after I said some impolite words to me."

Jean Bart shook his head. "I'm sorry, Law."

"Sorry?" Law chuckled darkly. "No, you shouldn't be sorry. She was one of those gold-digger types who just wanted a damn KFC."

"As in, the chicken restaurant?" Penguin raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem impressed.

"Yeah."

"Fuck!" Penguin swore.

"I should've stayed home. I should've gone to school today. I should've said more than what I said to her and said stuff like how she was a–"

"Law, is that you?!" came a squeaky voice.

It had to be him.

Tony Tony Chopper was one of Law's classmates and though he was a male, he admired Law as much as the females did. Instead of being attracted to him, he respected Law's intelligence. Law's first impression of Chopper was that considering Chopper's age –he didn't know Chopper's exact age, but Chopper was easily five years younger than him– that Chopper could be smarter than him. Still, Chopper idolized him.

"Hello, Chopper," Law greeted him calmly. "How are you?"

_No, not him! Would he rat me out? Does he suspect that I skipped? He would probably be really disappointed._

"Me?" Chopper couldn't believe that Law asked him that. "Well, I'm fine, I guess! But what about you?! Are you feeling alright?! Will you be back tomorrow?! I mean, there's more people than myself who would like to see you come back."

"I'm feeling better," he tried to smile for Chopper's sake. "You don't have to worry because I'll be back tomorrow. Did anything interesting happen to you today?"

"You'll never believe this article I read about the Umbrella Revolution! It's getting so crazy in Mong Kok ..."

He let Chopper go on about how bad the situation was getting on the other side of the world. While Penguin and Sachi were bored stiff, Jean Bart and Bepo seemed concerned.

He wondered what Luffy would think about the Umbrella Revolution.

He would have to tell him about it.

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe you waited for me to get out of class," Luffy was saying. "Again. I mean, that's so cool."<p>

A few weeks had passed since the day Law had skipped school. It had become common for Law to wait for Luffy to get out of school so they could get some coffee at noon. Things worked out pretty nicely and he had discovered that once he got over Luffy's extreme optimism that he wasn't too bad.

Law held an umbrella over the two of them as they walked down the wet street. Rain began to fall and though Law didn't mind that much he felt like it would be kind if he took an umbrella just in case.

Law nodded. "Thanks for helping me out. Even though the thing with Bonney didn't work out."

"S'okay," Luffy shrugged. "She was kind of rude. Not really the ideal girlfriend."

"We never really dated," Law informed him. "I have no idea what happened to her. She didn't get hit by a car or something. I watch the news everyday."

"You and your evening news," Luffy rolled his eyes at him.

"You know you like the fact that I'm a nerd," Law replied. He playfully punched Luffy in the shoulder and Luffy giggled. "You think I'm a nerd."

"You? _Noooo! _You're too chill to be, like, be a nerd," Luffy reasoned.

Law gave him an incredulous look. "Interesting. What else am I?"

"You're ... you're ... you're ... you!" Luffy giggled again. "I have no idea how to describe you besides the fact that you're fun!"

"I'll remember that."

_For future reference._

Fifteen minutes later they were staring at each other over their steaming mugs. Luffy ordered hot chocolate and plenty of deserts while Law just ordered the darkest coffee on the menu.

Law noticed that Luffy's face was pink and that it wasn't from his hot chocolate.

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" he asked Luffy.

"I was invited to a few parties, but I'm not even sure if I should go to one of them," Luffy sighed.

"How come?"

"The people going to one of the parties are drug-addicts," Luffy wrinkled his nose. "They go to school smelling like weed or something. It's disgusting. And the deal with the other party is that it's going to be really quiet. More low-key than most parties I've been to. Does a low-key party sound appealing to you?" Luffy wanted to know with a smile playing on his lips.

He thought about it. "Actually, it does. I'm not much of a party animal."

"Do you want to go to the party?"

"Sure. Why not?' Law sipped his coffee.

"I don't know. I thought that you would say no because I thought you might think that all my friends were lame or something, which they're not. I'm just glad that you're going," Luffy stammered. "It'll be exciting."

"I bet."

* * *

><p>Law came back from school at the end of that week feeling more tired than he had in a long while. Even with his daily caffeine intake he felt as if he had just gotten all the energy drained out of him.<p>

So when he opened the door to his apartment all he wanted to do was lie down on his couch, close his eyes, and try to fall asleep. Which would be hard, but he could pretend that he was sleeping.

His apartment was dark. The days were getting shorter and it began to darken sooner than it had before, but it wasn't because of the seasons changing. His lights were off.

He squinted. There seemed to be nothing unusual about his apartment, but he could've sworn that he left his house with the lights on.

Law kept the lights off after he kicked off his shoes and dropped his things on the kitchen counter. He threw his body on his couch and stretched out his legs.

His gaze shifted over to his coffee table. On it was a Kurt Vonnegut novel that he had been reading for the past few days and enjoyed. Maybe he could read a few more chapters.

Law craned his neck around to turn on one of the lamps. Wait –where was the lampshade? Law shook his head.

_I must be going crazy._

When he did, a familiar face seemed to pop out of nowhere and yell, "BOO!"

He drew back. Not because he was scared, but because he was really _not _expecting to see Luffy crouched down on his floor wearing his missing lampshade.

Somebody else turned on the lights. A few seconds later, several people who were hiding around his apartment yelled, "PARTY!"

"What is this?" Law demanded. He was sitting upright and had a grim expression on his face.

"This is the party I was talking about! We decided that since we were going to have the party with the same people that the location really didn't matter. I told my friend Franky here–" Luffy motioned to a tall blue-haired man who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a speedo. "–that I knew a friend who wouldn't mind having a party in his apartment. Isn't this awesome, Torao? We thought they party _to you_!"

Law's right eye began to twitch. "Uh huh."

"I think he's happy," Franky grinned. "Hey Brook, turn up the music!"

_Music?_

A Top 40 song began to blast out of speakers that Law didn't even own. An even taller man with an afro began to spin everywhere while a green-haired man stayed glued to the wall. He had a scar through one of his eyes and didn't appear to be happy to be there. Law immediately liked that guy. A curvy orange-haired girl gossiped with a mysterious-looking dark-haired girl, a sly smile across her beautiful features. Chopper waved at him and was being carried around on the shoulders of a blonde-haired guy wearing a formal suit. Franky began dancing as well. but he looked like one of those exercise instructors off of TV. Usopp popped up from the other side of the couch and offered a quick, "Hello!"

There was a few more people he didn't know that mingled around his decorated apartment. He swore that he had seen those people before, but Law didn't even know their names. He sighed and peeled himself from his couch.

"Luffy," he began. "How did you get in my apartment?"

"Usopp went to the lobby and told them that he needed a spare key to your apartment. I guess it was sort of a lie, but the lady gave him the key anyway. Some lies can be useful. We snuck into your apartment about an hour ago and decorated the place as soon as possible. Sanji says it took him _forever _to make the food. It's worth it because his food is delicious! Your friends were also invited and they should be coming pretty soon. I thought that it would only be fair if they came, too."

He was impressed that the younger man had actually pulled the whole thing off. How did he get in contact with his friends? Looking around, Law could see that Luffy had a large group of friends and was quite popular. At least one person in the room had to have known one of this friends. Suddenly, he felt like an anti-social loser compared to Luffy.

He shoved these feelings –along with his annoyance– aside. Maybe he should at least act like he didn't care that Luffy would probably make a mess in his apartment.

"Wow ... thanks, Luffy," Law said slowly. "I still can't believe what you did to this place. I mean, you brought everybody together like this."

Luffy laughed. "Yep! This also serves as a Halloween party, hence all the Halloween-related things. Everybody is going to be so busy on Halloween, it's so wild."

Law had no plans for Halloween except for staying home.

Law nodded as he let himself walk away from Luffy.

He made sure that nobody was looking when he took an aspirin. Law was ready to join the party.

The first person he talked to was the green-haired man, whose name turned out to be Roronoa Zoro. Zoro worked at a pawn shop where he helped pawn swords, especially those from Japan. He owned three swords and knew how to use them.

You seem excited to be here," Law glanced over at Zoro.

Zoro snorted. "You see that blonde man over there?"

Law nodded. _What about him?_

"Well, his name is Sanji and he's the most repulsive person on this planet. Maybe even the universe. I hate his fucking balls and I know he knows that. In fact, I don't really care because he hates me back," Zoro scowled. "He thinks he's so much better than me."

"Ah, you two are rivals," Law smirked. _Just like two kids. _"Let's say that Sanji had a crush on you. How would you react?"

Zoro's open eye widened as his eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"No, I'm just wondering. I keep on seeing him look in our direction. I think he thinks that I'm trying to flirt with you, which I'm not," Law chuckled. "I think Sanji likes you."

"That's just ..." Zoro trailed off. "That's just so ... I'm not even going to answer."

His conversation with the some of the girls went better.

"Hey! Luffy told us all about you. You're Law, right?" the orange-haired girl greeted him. She had a beer in her hand and seemed to be having fun. "I'm Nami, and my friend here is named Robin."

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm the only Law I know. I might be the only Law anybody knows."

The dark-haired girl's smile grew. "I saw the novel on your table. You aren't taken back from his view on society?"

"Not really. He has a voice that soothes my ears and just pulls you in."

"I have no idea what you just said," Nami admitted.

"You're an interesting man, Law," Robin seemed to approve of him.

After awhile, the party didn't seem to bad. He had a conversation with Sanji, who claimed that he wouldn't even want anything to do with Zoro even if Zoro was the last person left on the planet. Him and Chopper talked about medical stuff while all Franky raved about was how he was already making plans for Spring Break. Luffy's older brother –Ace– was there as well with his beautiful girlfriend who was actually a princess of a country he had never even heard of before. Then again, he didn't watch _TMZ_.

He even drank a few beers, but it was nowhere near how much he had drunk with Bonney. Law felt nice and liked the fact that some of Luffy's friends were acceptable to talk to.

When his friends showed up all of them seemed to fit right in. Jean Bart was talking about history with Robin, Sachi and Penguin were pigging out on the cupcakes, and Bepo was dancing like crazy.

Time passed by and the party had to have been going for at least three hours before Law's phone started to vibrate in his pocket.

"Oh shit," he cussed. He had been talking to Sabo, who had practically grown up with Luffy. Sabo was so liberal, the two of them connected immediately. "I need to take this phone call. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"Sure!" Sabo smiled.

Law gave him a thankful look as he slid open the sliding glass door of his apartment. He leaned against the railing of his balcony as he picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

"Oh hello, Law. It's me, Doflamingo," there was an edge to the man's voice. "I know you've missed me and home, but you don't have to say so. I know how much you love us and want to see us again! Have you finally gotten over your rebellious stage?"

Law grimaced. There was a tight feeling in his chest that he got even by listening to Donquixote Doflamingo's voice. Doflamingo was probably the person that he disliked the most out of everybody he had ever met. Even if Doflamingo had adopted him.

"What the fuck do you want, you damn bird?" Law drawled. "I'm busy."

"Busy avoiding the fact that you left home without even telling us. Tell me Law, how well-off are you right now? Do you really want to live by yourself and so far away from home? You know nobody in that stupid city and nobody gives a fuck about orphans, even grown-up orphans."

That hit him pretty hard. Law was glad that nobody inside his apartment could hear what he was saying due to the loud music and screaming.

"You should be thankful that I got away from your ass. You would've been dead by now, had I not moved away," Law claimed. "How about you just stop calling me?"

"Come home Law," Doflamingo's voice numbed his brain. "Come home, where you belong. We miss you."

"What you miss is having me as your pawn. I'm an adult and I'm old enough to make decisions for myself. I'm grown-up!"

"Right now, you don't sound very grown-up."

He knew some of what Doflamingo was saying was true. However, the rest was still bullshit.

Doflamingo laughed. This was one of the things that Law hated about the man the most. This, and his smile.

"I'd rather get killed than go back."

Law hung up.

His evening had just been ruined by a man who was phone-calling from the other side of the country. If he closed his eyes he could see Doflamingo's smile ... when he first met the Donquixote family ... all the times he had spent with Corazon ... all the times he had felt like all he wanted to do was die ... when the thought that he really would die. All of these memories came rushing back to him and he hated that his past had caught up with his future.

He went back inside.

"I LOOOVE CAAAKE!" Luffy was yelling. "LAW, DO YOU WANT SOME CAKE?"

"No thanks. I'll just get another beer," Law shrugged off his offer. "I'm not hungry right now."

"We decided that this thing has to end like, ASAP because a few of my friends have these really long exams tomorrow. Some of them have to study for them," Luffy said glumly. "Sanji said it's okay if we pig out. He hates it when people waste food!"

Law hadn't eaten since breakfast. He eyed some of the healthier options on the refreshments table and ate some fruit on his couch.

"This really was a great party. I even made some new friends," Law confessed. _And got Doflamingo to hate me even more. _"This was great."

"I just knew you'd like it," Luffy sat down next to him.

There was some silence between the two of them. As awkward as it was, Law kind of liked it. He let himself lay back on his couch as he casually watched the rest of the party.

"I mean, parties are parties," Luffy felt as if he had to fill in the silence. "And parties are exciting. There are some things that are more exciting than parties ... but a party is still a party. Get what I mean? I mean –oh, I should just shut up now."

Law was amused by this. "Luffy," he started. "What's more exciting than a party?"

"Uh, food! Food's thrilling."

"Nothing's more thrilling than that?" he pressed.

"I don't know. Do you have any suggestions?" Luffy dared.

Law began to smirk. Luffy was even more perverted than he thought he was.

"Do you?"

"I don't know," Luffy giggled.

"Well, I was thinking ..." Law leaned in. "I don't know what you'd think, but maybe we could–"

"LAW! HAVE YOU SEEN MY CAR KEYS?" Brook howled, sobbing. "I LOST THEM!"

_Thanks, Brook. Thanks a lot!_

"No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen them."

"Hey Law," Luffy stared up at Law with this eyes. Those innocent eyes. "What were you saying?"

_Had he not been suggesting something, well, suggestive?_

"I was saying that maybe we could go to the park sometime," he improvised. There was no point in asking Luffy whether he wanted to fuck when Brook had ruined the moment. "I like parks."

"Me too! Especially when I feed the ducks. I wish I was a duck," Luffy then quacked. _"*Quack, quack!*"_

Law chuckled. "You're still such a child, Luffy."

"Child _*quack*_? No, I'm not human I'm a _*quack*_ duck!"

Luffy began to quack even more. He quacked his friends good-bye and flapped his arms up and down.

"Luffy, you look like Flappy Bird right now!" Ace cried.

"What kind of bird is Flappy Bird anyway?" Chopper pondered out loud. "Oh well. Bye Law! See you at school tomorrow!"

Soon enough, Law was left alone. With a duck.

Law looked at the clock. It was almost midnight.

"Do ducks have curfews?"

"Not tonight _*quack*_. My grandpa decided to go out with _*quack* _some friends. It's weird because he's like _*quack*_ a million years old _*quack* !"__  
><em>

"I see. So if you wanted to you we could hang out for a little while longer?" Law suggested.

Luffy looked up at the ceiling as if thinking.

"Uh huh!" he concluded. "I wouldn't mind as long as I'm not keeping you up or something. I go to sleep whenever I feel sleepy and right now I'm wide awake!"

"Oh good," Law smirked again.

* * *

><p>Luffy finally decided to leave a little before three, when he swore that his grandfather was almost home. He had to go to school again the next morning and didn't care that he'd get little to no sleep.<p>

"It's worth it because I had a good time," Luffy smiled at him. He stood in the doorway with Law across from him.

Law stared down at the younger man because after all, he was almost a full foot taller than Luffy. "I'm glad to hear that."

"You're a really good friend, Law. I," Luffy paused, as if unsure to say what he was going to say next. "I like you."

"That's wonderful, because I like you as well."

He meant it. He couldn't believe that he told Luffy that.

"Really?"

"Truly. Why else would I like to be with you?"

"Law ..." Luffy faltered. He looked hopeful, his dark eyes almost pleading. Luffy really was adorable. "I'm not even sure what to say to you anymore."

"You don't have to say anything else, Luffy."

"Law ..."

Luffy kept his gaze on him. For a second it seemed like nothing else mattered but the moment –that moment with Luffy.

He leaned down toward the younger man while never looking away ... with Luffy doing the same ...

* * *

><p>I'm convinced that people might actually like this story and that the crazy idea for a story that I got while waiting in an obnoxious laundromat might actually be appealing to some people. A special thanks goes out to everybody who has read this story so far and is looking forward to this next chapter. Some of you may get the Gintama: Shippuden reference and if you don't, then look it up. Gintama is also a great anime and there was a mention of Naruto in the last chapter. In the AU, both exist.<p>

About Bepo: I decided to make him a human in this story. Chopper is fully human, too.

As for the whole Law x Bonney thing I'm sorry to those fans. Since this is a yaoi I can't have them to be together. Maybe in another story!

Kurt Vonnegut is like, one of my heroes. I just finished reading _Breakfast of Champions._

I've decided that there's going to be ZoSan as well.

If you haven't gotten to the current story plot in One Piece than reading this story might be a bad idea. There's a lot of spoilers.

I decided to use some of the Umbrella Revolution news in this. In case you people don't know there is thousands of young people in China right now who are protesting because the Chinese government doesn't want to become a democracy. These people want democracy and the freedom that comes with it, even if they are being harassed by the police in Hong Kong as I am typing this. Mong Kok is a neighborhood in Hong Kong. I wish there was something I could do about it and I hope that their efforts will have not been in vain.

As for my other story and even this story, I might not be able to update them so constantly anymore. This is due to my possible joining of Imperial Mint's One Piece Big Bang Challenge, which you guys should check out. It's deck. My plans are to work on the 25,000 word story for the challenge every other day and write my current two Fan Fictions on the days in between. They are not going on hiatus!

Thanks for the support!

I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as I did :)!


	3. This Is Not A Chapter

As the title says, this is not a chapter. Hey guys, I've been busy with a Fan Fiction challenge I've been doing for October and am really sorry that I haven't been able to update my stories since like, two months ago. I haven't forgotten about them and thank everybody that has liked my stories. it means a lot to me :)!

Anyway, I know that most of you have probably wondered when the next update is going to be ... to be honest, I don't know when it might be. Sorry for the ending of the last chapter ... that was kind of a clift-hanger. Don't worry though because I am coming out with Chapter Three ASAP! I know you guys want to know what happened between Luffy and Law :3. And there's going to be a major plot twist coming up (oh how I love those, it's not that hard to predict if you think about it). Hopefully, you've kept track of what's been happening in One Piece lately (sorry anime-only viewers) because some of that might come into play soon. New pairings, anyone? And angst. Angst will come, too.

I'm writing Chapter Three right now. I hope I finish it soon. In April, I'll publish my latest story which I hope you guys like (no spoilers). As for my other story ... I need to work on that sometime soon.


	4. Chapter 3

This is the promised next chapter I've been writing. My next story update will most likely be me for my other story since that one hasn't been updated in ages. Thanks for waiting for the release of this chapter and reading my story :)!

In this chapter, a new character is introduced and there's some angst in here. I'm also adding Luffy-centered POVs in here to test out which POV I like better–Law's or Luffy's. I need you guys' opinions on that and if you want me to add characters into the story then just tell me. I could use some ideas.

BTW, I don't own One Piece so don't sue. Happy holidays :D!

* * *

><p>Chapter Three:<p>

_If I wanted to I could kiss him right now._

Law had no idea why it had just occurred to him that Luffy's lips were so kissable. They were a sensual thing that made him wish that he had met earlier.

Just before Law could let himself overpower Luffy's lips Luffy quickly pecked the older man's cheek.

"Thanks for making tonight memorable!" Luffy's face glowed with joy.

Law was half-confused, half-pleased. "Your welcome," he said slowly.

_I wanted to kiss you on the lips!_, he wanted to scream. Still, he kept a smile on his face to seem appreciative. The kiss was the best thing that had happened to him in a long while and at least it was kind of cute, considering that it came from him. It had feeling behind it, unlike all the times his adoptive family planted kisses on him.

"I don't know. It's just too soon for other things ..."

Now Law was just confused. Luffy knew that Law wanted to kiss him? His face was like a tomato–bright red.

"... Which is why I think that I'd like to be friends first," Luffy finished.

"Okay."

"You sure?" the younger man cocked his head to a side while asking him the question.

Law thought about this. _Am I really? No. I really like him, though and would hate for him to go away just because I was going too fast for him. Yet, a part of me doesn't like it._

"Yeah," he lied quickly.

Luffy grinned before waving him good-bye. Law watched him disappear down the hallway and head down the stairs.

* * *

><p>The clock was moving so slowly. Even slower than business was the very next Sunday.<p>

"When I said I wanted a raise, I was willing to work the extra hours. But this is lamer than I thought it'd be!" Luffy heard Usopp whine over the sound of the radio. "Do you know any other place that's hiring?"

Luffy's eyes widened. "You want to quit?"

Usopp nodded miserably. "This job consumes too much of my study time. Plus Kaya and I haven't been able to go on a date in like, ages. All because I wanted a quick, convenient job."

He let his head hit the counter. This was followed by a particularly loud, "OW!" and a mumbled, "Crud."

Luffy smiled weakly as he continued to shelve more boxes onto the shelves. _Maybe we should get new jobs. Somewhere where I'd enjoy working at._

He wasn't aware when a red-haired man marched into the store. The man was a fierce-looking punk who wore dark makeup and had a permanent scowl on his face. It wasn't the first time Luffy had ever seen a punk–it was just the first time he had seen a punk who had the nerve to go out in public without with just a large fur coat over his bare torso even though it had started getting colder lately. He wore flamboyant leopard-print pants with severe-looking boots that made too much noise whenever he took a step. Usopp looked up and let out a small yelp.

"What the fuck was that noise?"

"That?! Oh, it was nothing important. Nobody–I mean, nothing is scared here," Usopp blurted. "I mean, everything's fine! What's there to be afraid of here anyway?" he added with a nervous laugh.

The man chuckled. "I don't know," he said, getting in Usopp's face. "You tell me."

Luffy could see that Usopp wanted to cry as the man slowly inched away from him. He turned around only to head straight to the alcohol aisle.

"He looks like a thug," Usopp whispered to Luffy once the man was a safe distance away. "Don't you think? I don't know. He's just giving me a really bad feeling."

Luffy nodded. "I guess," he replied while curiously watching the man. He didn't see anything wrong with him besides the fact that he was expressing himself in an extreme way. _Just because a person decides to express them self in an extreme way doesn't mean that they're an extreme person. I mean, look at Law. He has all these tattoos and piercings, yet he's in college and has a life._

"Shouldn't we do something? Like tell Buggy that we might have to call the cops?" Usopp suggested.

"Buggy wouldn't believe us anyway," Luffy pressed the boxes of cereal that he had been shelving against Usopp's chest. "It's okay. He's not doing anything bad to us."

"Yet Luffy, yet! What're you doing? Come back!"

It was too late.

"You know," Luffy started as he stood near the red-haired man who was still deciding over what brand of beer to buy. "Today's Sunday and there's laws that state that you can't buy beer until it's noon in this state."

Slowly, the man glanced over at him. "Cool. The number of fucks I give is the less than or equal to zero," he drawled as he selected a six-pack of beer from the fridge.

Luffy giggled. "That was a good one!"

The man seemed taken-back. "You were supposed to go away by now."

"So what? You is that you seem like a nice person. I'd hate it if you were to get in trouble for not knowing a law so I came back here to tell you that just in case you didn't know or something," he shrugged.

"Yeah. Uh huh," the redhead said in an offhand manner. "Are you going to sell the beer to me or not?"

"Why not?"

The man took a few steps away from Luffy. "You're a creep, but at the same time you're a likable creep."

"Thanks!" Luffy smiled. "You look like Punk Drop-Out of the Year, but is there anything we can do about it? I kind of like you too."

Since the man was Edward Cullen pale he could see the man blushing. "Now you're just a freak."

Usopp saw the two walking together and nearly had a heart attack. Luffy could see there was a cell phone in his left hand while his right hand was on top of the counter, shaking almost as violently as his knees were.

"Hey Luffy," Usopp tried to sound casual. "Anything up? As in, fish?"

"What?" Luffy was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The hell?" the man gave Usopp a long stare.

"Oh! Fish! Oh yeah, Luffy knows what I'm talking about. The word that starts with a 'F' and ends with a 'Y' that describes our good friend Red?"

"But we don't know anybody named Red!" Luffy shouted.

"Is he okay?" the man wanted to know.

"He's fine, uh ..." Luffy paused. "What's your name?"

"Kid," the man told him.

_You look nothing like one_, Luffy mused. Kid had to at least be twenty-three years old.

"Yes, we do!" Usopp urged, winking like mad. "Fish! Eee! That's what he is!"

"Listen, Usopp, I can barely understand what you're trying to tell me," Luffy shook his head. "Just say it!"

"I can't!"

Luffy sighed. Not so long after this, his phone started to vibrate inside the pocket of his jeans. He pulled his phone out to look at the text message.

**Usopp: Kid is fishy! Has he stolen anything yet?**

**Luffy: No, Kid is nice. **

**Usopp: ):'( **

"It's funny how people make it totally obvious that they're talking about somebody that's in the same room as them," Kid rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm used to it."

Luffy felt kind of guilty. _At least I didn't say anything bad about him_, he reminded himself.

Usopp avoided eye-contact with Kid as he sold him his beer. Luffy bit down on his bottom lip, not really sure what to say or do next.

Something hit him as he saw Kid start walking down the street.

"I'm going to take a break!" Luffy announced.

"We just started an hour ago," Usopp pointed to the clock. "It's nowhere near lunch."

"Early lunch," Luffy said as he flew out the door.

He ran after Kid, who was almost lost in the crowd of people. When he finally caught up with the man he placed a hand of his shoulder.

"Get your hands off me you–" Kid turned around but stopped himself. "Oh. It's you."

Luffy panted. "I want to talk some more. Sorry for my friend, Usopp, back there. He might have given you a hard time, but he's not always like that."

"I think he needs to work on his lying skills some more," Kid stated.

_Kid is catching on fast!_

"That's for sure!" he trumpeted. "Are you doing anything soon?"

"Not much. I was going to go home, but ..." Kidd trailed off. A smirk soon appeared on his face. "Maybe that can wait. Wanna hang out for awhile?"

Luffy hesitated. He didn't feel right going off with other people alone now, especially ever since he met Law. He found it easier to talk to people he didn't know very well. So what? It wasn't like he would be _cheating_ or anything.

"Why not?"

* * *

><p>The park was awfully quiet on Sunday mornings and that's why Luffy could hear Kid's friends before he even saw them. Their music was too loud.<p>

"Wire, Heat, and Killer and I have been hanging out for ages. That's why we're all in the same band," Kid explained.

"You're in a band?" Luffy had never met anybody who was in a band before.

Kid smiled smugly. "Yeah. I play guitar, but I sing, too."

"Wow," Luffy awed. "That's amazing."

"I know I am."

"Hey Kid. Hey ... kid?" a man wearing a mask greeted them. He had wild golden hair that fell down his face and arms that bulged with muscles. "Who's the kid, Kid?"

"I'm Luffy," Luffy introduced himself. "Hi! How are you guys?"

The blonde man waved slowly. Then his hand went back into the pocket of his jeans.

One of the other guys–a man with shaggy blue hair–grunted. "Good enough, I guess." The tallest guy–who was impossibly tall–looked down at his shoes, his cloak covering most of his face.

"Hey shit-heads," Kid growled. "How are you?"

"Dandy," the blonde man mused. Kid sent him a glare, but the man just looked away.

"Watch it, Killer," Kid warned him.

"It's okay," Luffy brushed his hand against Kid's arm. "Not everybody's talkative. Oh man, I have a few friends who barely talk at all! Like Robin! But she's cool."

"Are we going to plan out tonight or what?" Wire asked.

"What's tonight?" Luffy wanted to know.

"Our band is preforming at a club tonight. It's going to be our first real gig," Killer told him.

"And we haven't decided what songs to play," Wire's frown seemed to deepen.

"Which is why we need to figure it out," Killer added. The cloaked man looked up.

Kid sighed impatiently. "We have to play 'Hysterics at the Steering Wheel'. Right, Wire?"

_What kind of song name is that? _Luffy tried not to laugh.

"'Of Fear and Hell' is what we need to get fans," Wire reasoned. "Practically anything from our EP."

"The EP had some weird stuff on it," Kid snorted. "Who even wrote that crap?"

The cloaked man cleared his throat. "I did."

"Even '21% Auschwitz'?"

"Yes."

Kid groaned. "Are you for real? That song is so ... ugh."

"Though you did write one song," Killer reminded him. "Heat wrote the rest."

"I did?" the redhead squinted.

"'Hello Mister Brutality'," Wire said. "That one was kind of slow."

Kid started to blush. He looked at Luffy who was unfazed by his comment. "Shut up. Better than any ballad you could write."

"My grandpa listens to rock ballads. They're slow, but I thought they stopped making them," Luffy blurted. "All he listens to is the classical stuff."

Killer chuckled. "Your old man has some good tastes. Does he like metal?"

"You mean like Led Zeppelin?"

"The grittier stuff," Wire clarified. "They've got grit, but not as much grit as, ah, Black Sabbath."

"Oh! Like the stuff Hot Topic caters?" Luffy grinned. "No, but he doesn't know that behind all the recent photo albums of him being a Marine and all is these really old pictures of him from the 1980's. His hair was huge!"

Kid's eyes widened. "Okay."

"And don't get me started on how short he made his _girlfriend's_ hair look!"

Killer and Wire guffawed. even Heat had to smile at that.

Kid rolled his eyes. "What are we playing?"

"Music," Luffy reminded him. "Songs. Instruments."

"I know that," Kid was sort of irritated.

"Then why are you asking?" Luffy replied innocently.

Kid sighed while Luffy just laughed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the park a completely different group of friends was strolling through the park after their morning coffee break. They were trying to get back to a car that belonged to one of them so they could go home.

"It's so chilly today!" Penguin exclaimed while wrapping his scarf around his neck even more tightly than it had been before. "Any chances that it could snow soon?"

Law shook his head. "No," he said. Vapor came out of his mouth as he spoke and this reminded him that he hadn't smoked in a few weeks. "It's too soon for snow. November just started."

"Aw! C'mon, Law!" Sachi groaned. "Make us believe that it'll snow soon!"

"Please, Law?" Bepo pleaded.

Law just smirked with Jean Bart.

The truth was, Law wanted it to snow as well. There wasn't much snow in the city at that time of the year, but there was much more snow than there was in Dressrosa. This reminded him of one of the things he'd miss if he actually listened to Doflamingo and went back to Dressrosa.

No–he would never go back. Not there. Not ever. Dressrosa wasn't his home and Doflamingo wasn't somebody he wanted to get involved with again. Not when he finally had real friends, the chance to fulfill his dreams, and the possibility of actually starting a serious relationship with somebody. Luffy.

Law could see Luffy not so far away from the part of the park that him and his friends were walking through. Luffy was on a bench surrounded by four guys wearing dark clothing and blasting music Law would never be caught listening to. He was sure that the younger man couldn't see him, but Law could see him smiling and laughing at something one of the guys said.

Their leader could easily be distinguished–a tall red-haired male who looked like somebody that would live for the scene at the night clubs Law went to. He stood over Luffy rather possessively and Law didn't like the look of him at all.

Nobody messed with Luffy like that. The black haired man knew that his friends had also noticed the situation as well, their grim faces giving them away.

Law let himself nonchalantly slide nearby the group so he could say, "Hey, Luffy."

"Law!" Luffy greeted him with a frantic wave of a hand. "Hey! What's up?"

"You know that guy?" Kid said that the same time Law said the same thing. The two gave each other wary glances before both turning to look at Luffy.

"Jinks! Knock on wood," Luffy giggled. "I'm glad to see you again."

"Oh, really?" Law made sure that the red-haired man heard this. The red-haired man's friends inched away from them.

"Yeah. So are we still on going to the park and all?"

"You bet," Law smirked. The red-haired man scowled at him.

"That sounds like fun," the red-haired man made his voice sound more cheerful. "Can I come, too?"

"That's a great idea!" cried Luffy.

_Oh hell, _Law thought. _Please, no._

"We can all feed the ducks," Luffy went on. "And buy all this food to eat together. Speaking of food, Law, Kid, have you guys eaten yet? Because I kind of am getting ..." his stomach grumbled.

"Don't worry. I'll take you out to eat somewhere," Kid offered.

"Really? Gosh, thanks, Kid!" Luffy's face glowed with happiness.

_Who is he to Luffy? _

"So, Luffy ... you're friends with this guy?" Kid jerked his thumb at Law.

"I have a name," Law told him.

"Sure, but who cares?" Kid snorted. Law pretended not to hear him.

"We've known each other for awhile now," the younger man said. "Once you get to know him, Law's a lot of fun. Speaking of fun, he–"

"He seems like a bad person," Kid cut him off. "Bad influence on you. Just look at him!"

_What's so wrong with me? Sure, I only got an hour of sleep last night, but at least I don't smell like cigarettes today. That's a major improvement from a few weeks ago._

Luffy tilted his head. "I don't see anything wrong."

"Luffy," Law said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh huh!" Luffy hopped up from the bench. "So what are we going to talk about?"

Law sent him an urgent look. "Stuff."

"Sounds important," Kid's voice dripped with annoyance. "Care to tell us what that 'stuff' is?"

When Luffy wasn't looking Law pointed his tattooed middle finger at Kid. He pulled the younger man away from Kid until they were under a tree a good distance away from him.

"Who's he?"

"Kid's just a friend," Luffy told him. "We met just today."

"I see," Law began. "Just a friend. That's cool. What kind?"

"Of what?" pondered Luffy.

"Friend," he made out. Law didn't like the way his own voice sounded and it pained him to hear it. "What kind of friend is that man to you?"

"Law, we're just friends!" Luffy assured him. "Nothing more!"

"He's a bad guy ... something about him is just so ..."

"So what?" Luffy raised his voice a little more.

Law didn't want to say it. He just couldn't.

"Nevermind," he tried to shake it off.

"No," Luffy whispered. "You're hiding something. Tell me! I want to know what you were going to say about Kid."

"You wouldn't want to hear it," Law was sure about it.

"I want to," Luffy's dark eyes pooled with tears. "Please."

_I don't want to hurt you._

"There's something about Kid that gives me a bad vibe," Law confessed, bracing himself for the worst.

All that he could hear next was the wind whistling in his ears and the sound that a city makes when somebody has been stolen of their ability to speak. He held his own breath.

"How?" Luffy's voice shook. He was angry. "Why?"

"Don't you see what he's trying to do to you?" Law blurted more loudly than he had planned on doing. It was too late to take it back. Just too late. "Kid is using you."

"You say it as if you never did that to anybody," Luffy growled.

_How does he know about all my past relationships?_

"You know nothing about me," he swore. "You should have nothing against me because all I ever did to you was things that Kid will never do to you."

_I never wanted to hurt you because I care about you._

"Then where's Bonney?" Luffy roared.

_Where is she? _Law had no idea. He wasn't going to tell Luffy that. Honestly, he didn't know what happened the night that him and Bonney had slept in the same bed. Law didn't even know if he had gotten her pregnant or not.

"Why do you even care?" Law spat. "That has nothing to do with Kid."

"So what if he's using me? You used Bonney and I know you used her because after those days you never talked about her again. I don't know where she is now and I bet you don't as well. Isn't that true?"

"I'm not going to respond to that," Law took a step away from him. "All I wanted to tell you is to stay away from Kid. You'll regret it."

"Law, I don't know how you really feel about me," Luffy admitted."If you cared about me you would respect my decisions."

_What he's saying is kind of true. Maybe I really am the most hateful person I know, _he thought about this. _Maybe I'm just a monster._

"It'll never work out, Strawhat-ya and you know that. You're welcome to come crawling back to me once you realize that it's just a waste of your time," Law promised him. "Kid is going to ruin you."

"Screw you," Luffy croaked. "Fuck you, too!"

_That's all Kid's wanting to do to you. _

Law turned around and just like Bonney had done to him, kept on walking without ever looking back. With each step he took away from the younger man the more he time he knew it would take for his scars to heal. The bitterness that had never really gone away from him just kept on coming back and he had released all of it on Luffy.

His friends said nothing to him once he returned to them. Sachi opened his mouth to say something because his curiosity was winning the best of him. Jean Bart pinched him and Sachi's mouth remained open due to the pain, but no noise came out of his mouth.

_I held on, but you just let go. _

There was no sting in his jaw as he said, "You already know what happened."

The ride back home was awkward. Jean Bart kept his eyes on the road and like usual, said nothing. Penguin fiddle with his thumbs as he knew better than to gawk at Law's glazed expression. Sachi bit on his lip from refrain from talking while Bepo leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "Creep" by Radiohead started playing on the local alternative rock station.

Jean Bart looked at Law in the mirrors and pursing his lips, changed it to a different station.

"Can you please change it back? It's the censored version, but I still like it," Law told him.

Jean Bart nodded and they proceeded to listen to the depressing song in which he saw Bepo squirm and even Sachi wilted. Uncomfort enveloped the group and stayed with them even when the next song–a much more upbeat song by Fitz and the Tantrums.

Law was dropped off at his apartment building before anybody else went home. He mumbled a few quick words of gratitude to Jean Bart before giving his friends a brief wave before entering the much-warmer building.

Once in his apartment building he took off his shoes and set his hat and coat down on the nearest table he saw. Law let his body slide to the door halfway to his bedroom.

_I could stay here forever. Maybe nobody would even notice if I died here until they actually smelled me rotting. _

He didn't know how long he was on the floor. Law could hear the shouts of joy coming from the floor beneath him. Maybe something particularly amazing had happened to somebody. _You don't know how jealous I am of you right now. _

Law was alone–with his own thoughts.


End file.
